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Operation Prom Night The Consequences of Drunk Driving

Operation Prom Night - The Consequences of Drunk Driving

Hospital news | Friday, April 24, 2015

The drunk driver sits and watches as medical personnel tend to crash victims. Roughly 1,000 students from Mazama, Lost River and Hosanna watched a drunk driving demonstration Thursday on Mazama's football field, which involved a head-on collision caused by a drunk driver and a distracted driver using his cell phone.

Mazama's football field was the scene of a drunk driving demonstration Thursday morning involving a head-on collision caused by a drunk driver and a distracted driver using his cell phone.

Roughly 1,000 students from Mazama, Lost River and Hosanna witnessed the horrors of a fatal crash from the initial moments after impact, the police arriving, a medical airlift, emergency room procedures and finally the funerals.

Students learned about the emotional impacts on friends, family, firefighters, police and medical personnel as well as the legal consequences and financial debts resulting from a bad decision to drink and drive.

Clinical manager of emergency services and trauma at Sky Lakes, Stacey Holmes said, "The goal is to teach the dangers of distracted or impaired driving."

With 17 years of experience as an ER nurse Holmes has seen the devastation caused by drunk driving and hopes Operation Prom Night will help more kids make good decisions and cause less parents to hear they’ve lost their child.

Several speakers discussed issues such as the legal punishment for the driver, the importance of seat belts, using a cell phone while driving, real injuries and the consequences of an accident.

This is the fifth year of Operation Prom Night and Holmes said they’ll go to one major high school and invite smaller schools every year so every student will see the graphic, but accurate, show once before graduation.

"We have probably over 100 volunteers here. It’s not one organization. Everyone comes together for the community," said Holmes.

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